How flat can you plane your work? With a flat plane?

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Paul Chapman":2gif87l3 said:
Karl":2gif87l3 said:
I have trimmed it down to 30", but now wish that I had left it at its original size

But Karl, it's still longer than Rob's, so you are in the lead in the "Size Matters" stakes :lol:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

Big Woodie at 28" is more than long enough...a decent 6mm Phillyblade though has made a big difference - Rob
 
xy mosian":2m21vo8k said:
Bugbear, sorry this was shorthand for "Failure to be an improvement", which I assumed was the purpose of the exercise.

xy

I just thought you were being a little harsh on your own idea!

BugBear
 
Still hoping someone will do the experiment and report results!

Just ten shavings off each straight edge.

David Charlesworth
 
woodbloke":2t0l5zov said:
Big Woodie at 28" is more than long enough

Hi Rob

I'm not being flippant when I say this, but long enough for what?

I've never really understood the relationship between the length of edge that can be straightened with a given size of plane. But it seems to me that a longer plane will flatten an edge easier than a short one.

What size plane will flatten the edge of an 8' board? I suspect that a #7 will be too short, and will follow any overall deviance in the edge (ie if it is already hollow in its length, the #7 may take off any intermittent bumps, but the overall degree of holowness will largely remain). I've experienced this problem myself on numerous occasions.

Cheers

Karl
 
Karl":28sz3zts said:
What size plane will flatten the edge of an 8' board? I suspect that a #7 will be too short, and will follow any overall deviance in the edge (ie if it is already hollow in its length, the #7 may take off any intermittent bumps, but the overall degree of holowness will largely remain). I've experienced this problem myself on numerous occasions.

I've wondered about this on the odd occasion when I've had to plane a really long board. Maybe the answer is to knock up a shooting board from an 8' length of MDF, as long as the edges of that are straight.

Cheers :wink:

Paul
 
Paul Chapman":1zxsadgo said:
I've wondered about this on the odd occasion when I've had to plane a really long board. Maybe the answer is to knock up a shooting board from an 8' length of MDF, as long as the edges of that are straight.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

I've been considering doing just that for my new workbench - a jig which can be popped in place to allow the easy squaring and straightening of long stock - or short stock for that matter.

I'll add it to the list..... :lol:

Cheers

Karl
 
Karl":16jzivum said:
I've been considering doing just that for my new workbench - a jig which can be popped in place to allow the easy squaring and straightening of long stock - or short stock for that matter.

That's a great idea, Karl 8) If it were drilled out to line up with the dog holes on your bench, it would be very easy to put on and take off - and perhaps a couple of folding wedges to take up any slack. Might do one myself some day........

Cheers :wink:

Paul
 
Hi Paul - I made something similair a while back

05102007110.jpg


It didn't have a guide for the plane as seen in a traditional shooting board, but the plane was used on its side to square the edge of a board. It worked well, but was cumbersome to store so I got rid of it in the end. Because it didn't have the guide for the plane to run up against, it didn't automatically straighten an edge either - that was still down to me.

The next one will have to be less cumbersome to remove and store, and will also need to have the guide for the plane to run against.

Cheers

Karl
 
Paul Chapman":1zghotbf said:
Karl":1zghotbf said:
What size plane will flatten the edge of an 8' board? I suspect that a #7 will be too short, and will follow any overall deviance in the edge (ie if it is already hollow in its length, the #7 may take off any intermittent bumps, but the overall degree of holowness will largely remain). I've experienced this problem myself on numerous occasions.

I've wondered about this on the odd occasion when I've had to plane a really long board. Maybe the answer is to knock up a shooting board from an 8' length of MDF, as long as the edges of that are straight.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

Long edge shooting boards were used historically, but only to keep the edge square. Contrary to end-grain shooting boards, the planes were run on the workpiece, not a guide.

This may be due to the difficulty of "feeding" a large workpiece after each shaving, which is easy to do with small, end grain work.

BugBear
 
Karl":9jzbkmwe said:
woodbloke":9jzbkmwe said:
Big Woodie at 28" is more than long enough

Hi Rob

I'm not being flippant when I say this, but long enough for what?

I've never really understood the relationship between the length of edge that can be straightened with a given size of plane. But it seems to me that a longer plane will flatten an edge easier than a short one.

http://swingleydev.com/archive/get.php? ... t_thread=1

http://www.liutaiomottola.com/formulae/sag.htm

BugBear
 
bugbear":1kawdc2v said:
This may be due to the difficulty of "feeding" a large workpiece after each shaving, which is easy to do with small, end grain work.

BugBear

This, I believe, will be the main stumbling block. I think an alternative approach to "feeding" the work will be required.

Cheers

Karl
 
Karl":2lj5hx97 said:
woodbloke":2lj5hx97 said:
Hi Rob

I'm not being flippant when I say this, but long enough for what?


Karl
Hi Karl - for me to use comfortably :) If the thing gets any longer, it then may, in my very 'umble opinion :lol: start to become too unwieldy to use at the bench. I thought 28" was a sensible, practical length to make it - Rob
 
Paul Chapman":1ow8vd2o said:
bugbear":1ow8vd2o said:

:shock: :shock: Blimey, BugBear, that was as clear as mud :lol: Easier to just plane the wood, I think, and see what happens........

Cheers :wink:

Paul (who was never very good at maths :oops: )

Of course, maths is true wether you understand it or not...

Just like gravity worked (very well) BEFORE Newton!

BugBear
 
David,
in case you're still looking for an experimenter...just got round to it. Put a piece of softwood over the planer, which gives me a hollow of about 3-4 thou over a 3' or so. Sawed off a piece the same length as the No.8 (stuff looked pretty flat under st. edge) and took off 25 good shavings (after the power cutter marks planed off). I wouldn't normally choose a plane this long. It was much easier to start; much less thumb pressure needed on the toe at the start, to hold it steady, despite the longer length sticking out in the fresh air. After 25 shavings the board edge still had a very slight hollow, seen as a sliver of light under the straight edge. How many shavings are you talking about, to produce a noticeably convex surface? Just the ten? Over what length with respect to the plane?

Will repeat, and try something longer later on today, and No.6, (but grandchildren in residence "Do you think you could make me a...")
 
Ivan,

Thank you so much.

I am surprised, my 15 to 20" edges planed with a 5 1/2 become convex.

David Charlesworth
 
It's hard to be sure when under continual assualt by kneebiters, but my No 6 also maintains a very slight hollow in the same piece. Will bear this in mind over coming days, and keep using longer planes than usual, and smoothers, with something more dense.

The No6 is pretty flat end to end (75% eng blue) with slight oval hollow in middle of sole well behind mouth. No8 is as Record made it, still flat within no more than 1.5 thou total, but now has a slight twist in the "tail", so maybe needs a few passes over the granite plate.
 
A couple of things:

I would agree that a plane should be either
1) flat or
2) touching at the obvious 3 points
3) slightly convex.

if the #1 the plane works the most predictably on all timber.
if #2 the plane will work fine but takes a little more skill - especially on very short timber in relationship to the plane.
if #3 the plane will continuously follow the wood and produce a continuous shaving but not do much for accuracy.

When I first studied planing flat was a mystery then, since I mill wood by hand, a few hundred board feet of rough lumber hand planed taught me how to do it easy peasey.

Very little of the above matters.

Here is how to plane just about anything flat in a trice.

1 - with a shorter plane intentionally plane the wood slightly hollow. a jack plane is a good plane to do this with, gets rid of the rough spots and gives a hollow.

2 - with the longest plane you have plane continuously from end to end. Initially you will only get shavings at the ends. but slowly - well not to slowly the long strokes will plane out the hollow and when you start getting continuous shavings for the length of the board. STOP. unless your plane is seriously concave you will have a flat surface. - certainly a flat enough surface for woodworking.

With practice you can sight down a board and see if you are off.
 
bugbear":3bz3mr3v said:
Paul Chapman":3bz3mr3v said:
bugbear":3bz3mr3v said:

:shock: :shock: Blimey, BugBear, that was as clear as mud :lol: Easier to just plane the wood, I think, and see what happens........

Cheers :wink:

Paul (who was never very good at maths :oops: )

Of course, maths is true wether you understand it or not...

Just like gravity worked (very well) BEFORE Newton!

BugBear

I never said anything :) regards newt
 
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